MARGAO
Timothy Weah is an exciting young prospect in the young Stars and Stripes side and his natural talent came to global prominence only the other day. A fine hat-trick against Paraguay in the Round of 16 match of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in India should prompt the young Ligue 1 giants PSG signee to stay in the glow, emerging from his illustrious father, George Weah's shadow, a former FIFA Player of the Year and Ballon D'Or winner.
The class and confidence in his abilities on field percolates in his mannerisms off field when Weah met the media post training at Benaulim ground on Wednesday. Answering a question put forth by this reporter, the level-headed young forward stated expectations to carry the family legacy does not weigh him down. On the country, it uplifts his morale. "It is not really difficult to having a father who played the game at such a high level. He was such a classy player. I use it as an advantage to do what I do. When I am on the field, I just play my game and do not really think of it too much," a focused Weah remarked.
It does take a lot of will-power and concentration not to let distractions surrounding his family get the better of him. Particularly at a time when he has an enviable task at hand at a prestigious tournament, while his dad is contesting Presidential elections in Liberia. "Given that it is a World Cup and there a 100 million people watching you, it is just a natural thing I guess. Playing soccer all these years you really do not think about it much when you are on the field. There is a bit of nervous stuff going on between the first matches. You get over it as you go on. I think we have dealt with it well; I have dealt with that well. It is about being comfortable and winning. There is no pressure," Weah said.
While looking up to an illustrious footballer as his father is beyond a shade of doubt, he also mentions the name of Neymar among his idols apart from the likes of (Kylian) Mbappe and (Edinson) Cavani, and all of them are first team members at Paris Saint-Germain. "They are all classy players. Being able to one day play with them or against them would be great," the reserve team player of the renowned French club stated.
From playing at PSG to the national U-17 team, Weah does not find it much different than most may think. "We might think USA, PSG there is a big difference. But the quality of players here (USA Colts), everyone is capable of playing at the highest level in Europe," the Stars and Stripes youngster stated.
Given that he has played for one of the biggest clubs in the world, at PSG, it was imperative to find out if he has put across some of his thoughts on strategies and other such things to his U-17 national coach John Hackworth. "They (U-17 USA) have the formation set. He (Hackworth) is an awesome coach. He has everything that he needs. May be, for playing a team like from England, France, Spain I will tell him a couple of things on the players as I play them in the Champions League. Otherwise, everything comes from them and the senior team. We just listen and execute at the end of the day," young Weah revealed.
On the host nation that they took on in their opener on October 6 at New Delhi, he has much good to say despite the 3-0 result in their favour. "India, they surprised us. They came up with a very good team. They are small but they are great, strong, technical. I really loved playing against them," the American stated.
